Steam on the Cumbrian Coast 2011

[kevsmiththai]

Things have been a bit quiet ailway wise round here recently on the Cumbrian Coast Line in north west England. The long term closure of the Kent viaduct for major overhaul meant that only local passenger services worked the Furness area of Cumbria, no railtours visited the area and all freight trains were diverted north to Carlisle and the West Coast main line.

 

However with the re-opening of the line from Carnforth to Barrow there has been a resumption of the 'Lakelander' steam specials and we are in th middle of four consecutive saturday runs.

 

Motive power for the specials which originate at various towns in the U.K is selected from a pool of four locomotives based at the former 'Steamtown' depot at Carnforth and includes

Black V 4-6-0 44932

8F 2-8-0 48151

Jubilee 4-6-0 45690 'Leander'

Royal Scot 4-6-0 46115 'Scots Guardsman'

 

all of these former L.M.S locomtives are Stanier designs and share a family look instantly recognisable to the British railfan

 

The first running of this years 'Lakelander' had 48151 in charge. In 1935 the 8F 2-8-0s made their first appearance and were designed as a standard heavy freight locomotive. 663 were built for the LMS and many more for overseas use by the war department, indeed, British steam ennthusiasts have been rescuing examples from places like Turkey and bringing them home for restoration. These simple rugged two cylinder locomotives are ideal for passenger running where high speed is not important.

 

 

The train was running very late by the time it got to Cumbria due to a loco failure on th diesel hauled part of the trip but made up a lot of time by the time of its return.

 

The second run was hauled by the Black 5 4-6-0. again these are simple rugged two cylinder desigs but are more of a mixed traffic design. The Black V was introduced in 1934 and eventually totalled 842 examples and sired a direct descendant in the British Railways Standard V 4-6-0.

 

 

This time the train was on schedule

 

video of these first two 'Lakelanders' is here at

 

 

 

on the video at the start is some footage of one of the trains the company I work for runs. Two of our class 66 diesels are seen on a Crewe-Sellafield Nuclear fuel working.

 

 

I will be out again this Saturday chasing run number 3 and will put the results on youtube

 

cheers

KEV

[kevsmiththai]

The 'happy hunting ground' for these specials is the Furness area of Cumbria.

The Cumbrian coast line heads East through Ulverston (Birthplace of Stan Laurel) and splits at Dalton in Furness with passenger traffic taking a long loop through Barrow in Furness whilst Goods trains and specials take a short cut from Dalton Junction to Park South junction

 

here is the signalling map of the area

 

 

It is possible to photograph the specials at Askam or Lindal, jump in the car and catch it ten minutes later further down the line

Here is 48151 on one of last summers trains

 

 

[kevsmiththai]

Some of last summer's trains can be seen in these videos

 

46115 'Scots guardsman 'was immaculate when it headed the train. The Royal scot 4-6-0 had been out of action for many years and was chased by hundreds of railfans when it returned to traffic

 

 

44932 disgraced itself last year when it failed at Ravenglass but had been looking good up till then

 

 

The other loco I mentioned in the pool was the Jubilee 4-6-0 'Leander' seen here on a previous incarnation of the train 'The Furness Flyer' on a hot summer day in 2009

 

[The_Ghan]

Thanks for the post Kev,

 

I really love the 44932 video.  That engine is so black and clean!

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[westfalen]

I was surprised how fast that 8F can move. Love the sound of the black five as well.

[kevsmiththai]

It was a bit murky weather this morning for the third run of the 'Lakelander' excursion. Once again 8F 2-8-0 48151 was the motive power. First few minutes of the video show the train arriving at Sellafield after the passengers have got off at Ravenglass to sample the delights of the 15" Ravenglass & Eskdale railway.

The loco propels the stock back into the Sellafield sidings before detaching and going into the giant Sellafield Nuclear facility where it is turned and watered. After that the weather improved and return train is seen blasting through Askam and Lindal.

 

The large shed in the background at Sellafield and the extensive yard behind it is the depot I work at but because security I so tight I can't film in there unfortunately!

 

link to video is

 

 

I doubt I'll get chance to film next weeks train as I am doing Leyland Model railway exhibition with one of the Z gauge layouts but I'll keep an eye out

 

Cheers

KEV

[westfalen]

Great stuff.